Lonely Islands and Broken Hearts
by TbhManga
Summary: Sara never expected to lose her absolute closest person. She also never expected to flee to a deserted island and live alone for 5 years, either. But, life goes on, even if you do nothing but lament about Coco the whole time. AU-ish, some canon elements but also some headcanons & storyline changes


**AN: 'Colorless mermaids' are a personal headcanon of mine; the only reason they're included is because it fits the story. Basically, it's a mermaid who discarded their original colored pearl and took one with a color that isn't a color of the 7 countries. They're often considered rogue mermaids, and can't be controlled by any single country. It's also hard for Gaito to catch them as a result.**

* * *

The water kissed my toes as I sat in the sand, long dark hair flowing in the gentle breeze behind me. The ocean beckoned me to jump in, to frolic in the water and play as I once had, but I resisted. After all, the only thing in the ocean was heartbreak.

I remember her, clearly. The day she was ripped from me. Coco, the beautiful princess of the South Atlantic Ocean, and Sara, the stunning princess of the Indian Ocean. We were inseparable as children, and slowly became lovers as we grew into adulthood.

Of course, in our courts, there were whispers of inappropriateness between us, but it was a world of mermaids. Who else were we supposed to be attracted to, humans? My relationship with Tarou was short, for he was an utter fool. I ended it when I realized I didn't feel the same for him as I did for Coco.

I still see her once in a while, or at least I think I do. A flash of yellow-blonde hair, a high-pitched laugh, a shriek of, "Sara!" when we used to have fun. Before they took her.

I used to sing to bring happiness to the world. Then, right after she was gone, I sang to bring sadness to the world. Now, I don't. The world is already a gray place, it doesn't need more sadness, and happiness rarely exists anyway.

The tide was starting to come in, and I backed up a little bit. I may have traded my tail and beautiful voice for legs and a scratchy voice, but I was still paranoid the ocean would reclaim me. I still held a black pearl, the symbol of colorless mermaids. If I returned, which I never planned on doing, I wouldn't belong to any country. I'd be a loner, a drifter. It was better that way. Loners stayed alive in the world where the sea demons ruled the mermaid countries.

Sometimes, I wondered if I should go back. Be a hero, save the mermaid countries. Or at least mine or Coco's. I knew I had a successor in the Indian Ocean, but hadn't heard from her since I left. None of the other current princesses knew where I was. They likely assumed that I was dead. I might as well be, living on an isolated island in the South Pacific, far away from humans and underwater folk alike.

It felt right, settling in her country. Or on top of it, technically. If she ever returned, it wouldn't be hard to find me. That was about a -1% chance, though. She'd never return, not against the horrible sea demons. No one stood a chance against them.

The sun had begun to set, painting the sky and the ocean shades of orange and yellow. I missed those colors. I was nothing but darkness now, and Coco was long gone. Leaning over, I looked at my reflection in the clear ocean. Still just plain old brown eyes and black hair. A colorless mermaid's human form. If I returned to the water, my tail would be dark as well.

Sighing, I watched the sunset for a few more moments before getting up. I walked across the beach, letting the sand sink between my toes between each step. I still remembered the first time I walked with human legs and feet. It was me and Coco, together at 6 years old, venturing onto a human island. This very island, in fact. We ran through the sand together, laughing and tripping the whole way, unused to having to balance on two legs. It seemed like such a long time ago, 15 years in fact. A longer time than her age when I last saw her.

Flinching at the memories threatening to rise to the top of my mind, I ran to my small shelter. Hopping in my swaying hammock, I stared at the sky, almost dark by now. One of my favorite things to do had been looking at stars; they weren't visible from the ocean, so Coco & I always rose to the surface to see them. That's what we planned on doing the day she was snatched.

I squeezed my eyes tightly shut, knowing what was about to happen. The memories were rising like a tidal wave; completely unavoidable. It was 5 years today, and the pain was no less stronger than it was that fateful day.

* * *

I remember the crashing of walls around us, the falling stones, mermaids screaming behind us. Coco and I getting ready to run, before a falling stone hit my tail, and dragged me down to the rubble. She tried to come after me, but Gaito grabbed her, laughing maniacally the whole time. She kept screaming, "Sara!" as she was dragged away, kicking and fighting. For whatever reason, they didn't bother going after me. Maybe it was because they didn't want to search through rubble, maybe it was because they knew I'd be weak anyway and would pick me off another time.

Either way, the shifting ocean currents freed me from the stones within a couple days. I looked around at the ruined castle, and knew that no one would be dumb enough to stay. Weakly, I headed for my kingdom, worried that mine would be in similar shape.

My worst fears were confirmed; the Indian Ocean kingdom was, in fact, destroyed. No sign of any orange mermaids could be found either. It was there, in the ruins of my castle, that I broke down and sobbed for the last time in my life. I don't know how long it lasted, but when I finally recovered, I threw the orange pearl into the center fountain, which had miraculously survived. It shined, and a baby mermaid's cry could be heard. I went over to the fountain, took the baby, who clutched the orange pearl in her hand, and swam far away.

I deposited her near the castle of the North Pacific Ocean, taking the time to write a note that said, "Here is the Indian Ocean princess. Take care of her." l then fled south, towards the island Coco and I used to play on in our human forms. On the way, I spotted a field of pearl oysters, and took a discolored one. It would eventually yield me my black pearl, rendering me a colorless, rogue mermaid.

* * *

"5 years," I whispered to myself, in my scratchy voice. "It's been too long."

The sky was dark above me now, and the stars were gently twinkling now. I let the gentleness of the sky lull me into sleep.

It felt like I had only been asleep for a few moments when a shriek cut across my quiet island. I shot up in my hammock, and bolted towards a tree to climb, in case a water demon had found me.

The shriek happened again, and then I heard a chorus of "Shhh!" Frowning, I made my way towards the direction of the shrieks, keeping my guard up.

I was getting awfully close to the beach, and I began to wonder if some injured mermaids had stumbled upon this island. Finally, some company after 5 lonely years.

I turned the final corner towards the beach, and saw that I had been partially correct. There were indeed mermaids. Seven of them, and they all looked exhausted, and... familiar.

My breath left my body as my eyes landed on one blonde haired, yellow-tailed mermaid.

"Coco?" I asked, in my scratchy voice.

All seven turned towards me. Recognition flared in the the older mermaid's eyes, and confusion in the younger's. Coco stared at me, her mouth hanging open.

Finally, she squeaked, "Sara!" and attempted to get up, but she was still in her mermaid form. I ran over to her, and picked her up instead. We hugged each other so tightly, I'm surprised we didn't end up killing each other.

"Sara, I've missed you," Coco said, weakly. Tears were pooling in her eyes. "I've been stuck in Gaito's castle for 5 years, and, and, I-"

"It's okay," I said, softly. "I've been here the past 5 years, too, missing you like hell."

We both laughed and cried, recounting stories to each other. I later found out from the others that they had just defeated Gaito, and Coco pointed them to this island as a resting point to recover their strength. The shrieks I had heard were from my successor, Seira, who almost had a couple fingers taken off by a crab. The older mermaid princesses: Noel, Caren, and Rina, introduced me to the younger ones: Hanon, Lucia, and Seira. Seira partly remembered me taking her to the North Pacific Ocean, but the others had no memories of me.

A week passed, and Coco and I were inseparable. All of the other six mermaids got their strength back, and traveled back to their countries at various times, getting ready for rebuilding. Eventually, it was just Coco and I left.

"So," Coco said, softly. "You're colorless now."

I shrugged. "I wouldn't have survived otherwise. They would have tracked me down."

"Oh, I know," she said. "I'm not denying that. It's genius, actually. But, do you want to remain colorless, or..." Her voice trailed off.

I smirked. "Are you asking me if I want to be a yellow mermaid?"

Coco blushed. "Maybe."

I snorted. "You know what the answer is, idiot."

She laughed. "I guess I get to have you around all the time now, with Seira being the Indian Ocean leader now."

"Yeah, no more dealing with frustrating leader things anymore," I laughed.

"Maybe not for you, but still me!" Coco exclaimed.

"Oh, right. Maybe I'll help you," I said.

"I hope you do," she sighed. "We've got a lot ahead of us."

With that being said, the two of us stood up. We walked to the shoreline, and I took one last look at the island I called home for 5 years. I would miss it, but it was time to return to my true home; the ocean.

Holding hands, Coco and I walked in together, and transformed back into our mermaid forms. She took my dark pearl in her hands, focused, and it slowly turned yellow. As it changed, my hair, eyes, and tail slowly changed, until I was a yellow mermaid.

Coco gave me back my pearl, and together we headed off together, back to the South Pacific Ocean.


End file.
